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I wanted to create a more positive thread to commemorate Tom's life and allow members to share whatever thoughts and memories they might have. Feel free to copy/paste text that you might have already posted in the other thread.

A few words..

I met Tom when I was 12, back in 1998, when the LBA community was super tiny, on a now long forgotten message board called "InsideTheWeb." Tom's first post ever, if I remember right, was a 3DsMax rendering of water running through the sewers from LBA1. Bertine, Jesse, Gustav and I were already regular members at the site and were immediately impressed by Tom's artistic skills. That was his introduction to us and as time went on, we came to learn that this was only the beginning of Tom's great qualities.

When I was a teenager, I looked up to Tom because he was a real role model for me. I wanted to be a CGI animator and I looked up to him as someone who really knew that craft. I wanted to be kind to others and learned a lot about how to be mature and treat other people with respect by looking at how Tom did it.

I once had the pleasure of talking to Tom on Skype for a project he and Bertine had in mind. It was cool to actually hear their voices and chat with him live. I'm grateful for that conversation as well as the thousands of other conversations we shared in the past 18 years. Tom was part of my childhood, teenage years, and even adult hood. I never met him in person, but I wish I did.

I had the pleasure of watching Tom's memorial service, which was captivating and fulfilling. I got to see people from Tom's life that I'd never seen before. Knowing that he touched so many hearts and that he was loved by all these people made me feel like his story was complete. That there, in that room, were some of the greatest accomplishments he'd made. As the LBA Theme played in the final minutes of the ceremony, I kept thinking about Tom. Thinking how we'd met. His first post. The relationships he made and how he fell in love with someone here in this very place. All the good times and all the great moments.

As the song began to reach the end, I realized that I didn't want it to finish. That if it ended, it would somehow make the reality of everything actually true. But then I remembered the white yacht always visible in the background whenever the song plays. I imagined Tom saying goodbye as he sailed away on that boat. I guess the boat was always meant to sail away.

I'm literally shocked that nobody else has responded to this yet. I saw this the other day, but did not have the time to actually post... Sorry. Now, I've found some.

I think that's great that you got the chance to talk to him several times! Even if it were virtual, you at least got to hear how the guy sounds. Did you ever get to see him on your monitor? It's really not that important, but what did he sound like? Do you think you could pick an actor or someone else famous that he sounds similar to? Maybe that would give us a good idea of what he sounded like. Do you have any recordings or footage during the time you guys hung out? I apologize... Maybe I'm getting too personal now, but with the way Atresica sounded on the other thread, it sounded like she didn't mind the community and was grateful for all of the received support.

I looked at his programming projects and I'm very surprised at how much he has. Maybe I should dig through it, and learn about some of this stuff for myself. I've currently been learning Maxscript and have been using it for my model export to C code for the N64. I can now get geometry over very easily in seconds instead of minutes. I still plan on doing an LBA-like homebrew for the system. Darkflame seemed to be really interested in homebrews also. He told me that he had a NDS kit for awhile. It's too bad that he can't do this stuff anymore.

You will see him again, don't deny it. I've been practicing my faith, and I'm sure we can all see Thomas in the next life. Of course, I shouldn't be speaking for others. If you want to see him again, you will believe.

I'm sure I've got plenty more to ask, but this'll do for now.

Thank you for this thread, Lightwing - it's bound to make some members here happy. I noticed your replies in the other thread. I should look up to you. We need someone who is just like Thomas.

P.S: I have a heavy hobby for CGI, and I love to animate. I also enjoy sketching, drawing, and programming (in case you couldn't tell).

I’ve been meaning to post something in this thread ever since you launched it Lightwing, but it’s hard to find the time to sit down and do it properly.

I was not too close to Darkflame (we only had private chats a couple of times), but I always regarded him very highly.

Back when I first joined the MBN, in 2001, I was 14 years old and my English was pretty limited. I didn’t understand much of what was going on here, especially the discussions from the gang of older members that had been here for a while. I’m not even talking about the time I was lurking before joining. But Darkflame stood out from the others in that he would make me feel included. Not in the way he behaved towards me in particular, but just by his general attitude, just him being the nicest person around.

Then I discovered the Relentless Movie Project. Back then I was just barely aware that you could make movies with computers, let alone make fan movies! I was impressed by what he had done with this project and I think it had a big impact on my thought process. It inspired me to start doing things, make my own projects and contribute to other’s. It made me think that anything was possible.

And this inspiration as well as the many tips, suggestions and help he gave me on my early projects led to one of the main goal that is guiding my life even today, namely to one day be able to make my own LBA/Zelda/BG&E type of game. It’s guiding many of my choices, and I probably wouldn’t have become a software engineer without his mentorship.

My last contact with him was when I vlogged out my first sexual experience in the roofles den.
He answered this :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkflame

Well, congratulations on getting to experience one of the nicest parts of being a human

That's well put...

I discovered the MBN through the Relentless Movie Project website, loved looking at the LBA1 maps back then, when I didn't know about LBAWin or DOSBox and had no way of running the game.
In a universe without him I would have probably still found this place, but in this one, it is thanks to him.

Polaris, surely that thread would not end. As long as someone asks a question, there will be tons of responses. Seriously, I know - those types of threads almost never stop. It looks like that Darkflame had a good grasp on getting the attention of others. Although you do have a good point about Darkflames nonexistence now, I would assume that it would be slower. But, you could still continue it.

Roofles Den? Never heard of it. Though I can imagine what that is based on what you just told us about it.

We are human after all, so why not experience everything a human can? There are limits though.